Traction apparatus for a stretcher

ABSTRACT

Traction apparatus for a prone patient on a stretcher includes a chest belt and a harness secured thereto, and a belt for the feet and a harness secured thereto. Pulley means are supported on the stretcher frame whereby cords on the harnesses may be tensioned to apply traction to the patient.

United States Patent 1 a v 111 3,811,433

Brachet May 21, 1974 TRACTION APPARATUS FOR A 2,449,767 7/1948 Carpenter128/84 R STRETCHER 951,515 3/1910 Solsem 902,946 11/1908 Denise [76]Inventor: Jacques Brachet, 3'4 Rue de 3,413 971 12 19 3 Charenton,Paris, France 2,377,940 6/1945 Hughes [22] Filed -Feb 28 197 2,675,564'4/l954 Hughes; l28/84 R X [21] Appl. No.: 229,734 PrimaryExaminer-Richard A. Gaudet Assistant ExaminerJ. Yasko [30] ForeignApplication Priority Data Attorney, Agent, or Firm-James B. Kinzer;Thomas'E.

, Dom Mar. 10, 1971 France 71.08341 1 f 52 Us. Cl. .1 128/84 0, 5/82 1 ATRA [51] Int. Cl. A6lf 5/04 T a tion apparatus for a prone patient on astretcher.

[58] Field of Search 128/84, 75, 71, 85, 86, ncludes a es be n a ne e eo,

128/87; 5/82 and a belt for the feet and a harness secured thereto.

8 Pulley means are supported on the stretcher frame [56] Refer nces Citd whereby cordson the harnesses may be tensioned to UNITED STATESPATENTS I apply traction t0 the patient.

2,511,061 6/1950 Hughes 5182' 4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures l TRACTIONAPPARATUS FOR A STRETCIIER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The presentinvention relates to a stretcher-intended in particular for thetransport of persons with an injury to their spine or fracture of theneckor of the femur.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART injured person to beheld immobile to agreat degree during transport. However, all these'devices are costly andsometimes cumberous. In addition, .they do not allow certain injuredpersons to be removed, in particular through narrow passages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is toprovide a stretcher of particularly simple and inexpensive construction,enabling injured persons to be removed in satisfactory manner.

The object of the present invention is also to provide a stretcher-whichtakes up very little space and which, for that reason, can be carried inany ambulance.

any position while maintaining them in a completely The stretcher,according to the invention, comprises i in addition means ofmaintaining-and holding securely v the hips and the head of the injuredperson. More particularly, the frame 1, made of tubes for examplecomprises some handles 11 for transporting the stretcher. Supports (notshown) on which the stretcher can rest may also be provided. Thereceiving surface 2, fixed on the long members 12, is'provided along thewhole length of the stretcher to receive the injured person.

FIG. I shows an injured person lying on his side, his left legimmobilized to avoid all rocking movements.

This position is necessary when the injured person is suffering fromshock. When conscious the injured person may be transported lying on hisback. This position as well as the arrangeent of the maintaining membersare virtually the same as in the preceding'case; the difference isexplained later.

Securing a patient around the chest is effected with a long strap orchest belt, such as is illustrated in FIG. 3. Such a belt 5 comprises amain part 51 fitted with a harness in the form of four short straps 52andtensioning cords 53. These straps areattached at one end to the chestbelt at right angles thereto, FIG. .3, and the cords are attached to theopposite ends of the straps. The straps 52, FIG. I, embrace theshoulders of the patient, a pair for each shoulder, FIG. 1. Belt 5closes with the aid of thin straps 54 and buckles 55, girdling thechest.

The further object of the invention is to provide detachable pullingmembers which are fixed on the stretcher, which enables these to be madeand distributed to equip already existing stretchers.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide means to simplify notonly the distribution of this type of stretcher, while reducing costs,but also to reduce considerably the space they take up.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention is described ingreater detail with the aid of a mode of application illustrated by'theaccompanying drawings in which: i

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the stretcher according to theinvention, maintaining an injured person GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THEINVENTION The stretcher according to the invention is intended.

to transport persons with injuries to their spine or fractures of theneck or of the femur.

As indicated above, to maintain such injured persons completely immobileduring transport, the-stretcher comprises aframe l with a receivingsurface 2- on which the injured person rests; In addition, the stretchercomprises some pulling members 3, 4 provided at the extremities of theframe I permitting a pull of the required strength to be exerted on thespine between the armpits and the extremities of the lower members toenable the injured person to be transported.

To prevent interference with the respiration of a pa-" tient, the mainpart 51 of the chest belt is placed directly under the armpitswhereuponthe cords 53 are gathered together and passed over the centralpulley 31 and secured around the hooks 33. The extremities of the lowermembers, substantially at the level of the ankles also are secured withthe aid of a belt 6 which is appreciably of the same type as the belt 5.Belt 6 comprises a central or main part 61 and a harness provided by twothin straps 62 attached at one end thereto and each terminating with acord 63. When the main part 61 has been fixed with the aid of thinstraps and buckles around the feet of the patient, the tensioning cords63, attached to the foot harness are passed over the central pulley 41andaspecific pressure is exerted. To maintain this pressure at aspecified strength, the cord is passed around the books 42.

The spine of the injured person is then subjected to thechosen amount ofpull. Thispull is not exerted on the part of the spine which is beyondthe strap 5 in the direction of the head. This is necessary in order toprotect the cervical vertebrae. In the case where such vertebrae areinjured, or in general to prevent the head of the injured person from.moving and the movement causing pain in the injuredparts of the spine,provision is made for the head to rest on a pillow 7 which, for example,can be inflatable. To prevent the head from sliding on this pillow, astrap 8 is provided around the stretcher and bears on the forehead 'orthe upper parts of the injured persons head. As seen in FIG. 4, strap 8includes pad 81, buckle 83, and buckle holes at 82.

In order to immobilize the pelvis of the injured person, provision ismade, according to the invention, for an inflatable belt 9, made atleast in part of inflatable tubes, passing around the long members 12 ofthe stretcher and securing the hips and if necessary the knees of theinjured person. The lenght of the belt 9 is such that in no case does itreach the level of the thorax or cause discomfort to the injured person;

Since the size of the body of the injured persons may vary considerably,provision is made to enable two additional pillows to be placed oneither side of the body of the injured person in the belt 9 at the levelof the long members 12;

When it is desired to place the patient on his back,

it can be preferable to use the lateral pulleys 32, 42, to

' trated in FIG. 2; this member can serve equally either as a head part3 or a foot part 4. The securing-member 3, according to FIG. 2,comprises a transverse bar 34 provided with'a means of adjustingthe'distance separating 35-35, 36-36 and with a central pulley 31 andtwo lateral pulleys 32.

In addition, in order to make it possible to secure the cords whosepurpose is described later, means of hooking such as some hooks 33 areprovided.

The means of adjustement 35 enable the device 3 to be adapted to variouswidths of stretcher, and consist of a threaded rod which is an integralpart of the securing member 36. This threaded rod is screwed into athread provided at the extremity of the transverse bar 34. However, toprevent'this transverse bar 34 from rubbing against the securing members36, once these have been fixed onto the stretcher, a counter-nut 351 anda securing washer 352 are provided. These means .are provided at bothextremities of the bar 34. Howl Knurled head 363..This screw passesthrough the outer branch of the stirrup 361. The free extremity of thescrew includes a support surface 363 enabling the long members ofthestretcher represented in cross-section in this figure, to be securedmore effectively.

' Each central pulley as 31 turns on a horizontal axis and is fixed onthe transverse bar 34 by means of two brackets 311 and anaxle 312. Onthe other hand, the lateral pulleys as 32 turns on vertical axis and aremounted directly, by means of an axle onto the transverse bar 34.

it is obvious that the invention is not limited to the applicationherein above described and illustrated and that on the basis of it otherforms and other modes of application can be envisaged within the scopeof the invention.

I claim: L'Detachable on a stretcher with longitudinal members, areceiving member extending between the longitudinal members, comprising:

a pair of transverse bars each adapted at the opposite ends to beanchored to the longitudinal members of the stretcher; r 1 tractionstrap attachment means mounted to said transverse bars so that a tensioncan be applied to the head, feet or chest of the body; an inflatablebelt passing around the longitudinal members of the stretcher adapted tocontain a body so as to support at least the pelvic. portion of thebody; and,

additional inflatable pillows placed on either side of the sides of saidinflatable belt to further support the body; I

a second belt'to be secured around the chest at the level of the armpits of the patient, a harness secured to the second belt havingtensioning cords attached thereto, and pulling means on one of thetransverse bars onto which the cords are gathered to apply tension tothesecond belt, and means to 2. Traction apparatus according to claim 1 inwhich the bars are transversely adjustable and have means at theopposite ends thereof for clamping the bars to the longitudinal membersof a stretcher.

3. Traction apparatus according to claim 1 in which each bar has acentral pulley for receiving the tensioning cords. I v I 4. Tractionapparatus according to claim 3 in which the central pulley turns ona-horizorital axis, each bar supporting a pair of lateral pulleysturning on vertical axes.

traction apparatus for a prone patient I

1. Detachable traction apparatus for a prone patient on a stretcher withlongitudinal members, a receiving member extending between thelongitudinal members, comprising: a pair of transverse bars each adaptedat the opposite ends to be anchored to the longitudinal members of thestretcher; traction strap attachment means mounted to said transversebars so that a tension can be applied to the head, feet or chest of thebody; an inflatable belt passing around the longitudinal members of thestretcher adapted to contain a body so as to support at least the pelvicportion of the body; and, additional inflatable pillows placed on eitherside of the sides of said inflatable belt to further support the body; asecond belt to be secured around the chest at the level of the arm pitsof the patient, a harness secured to the second belt having tensioningcords attached thereto, and pulling means on one of the transverse barsonto which the cords are gathered to apply tension to the second belt,and means to anchor the cords to maintain tension on the second belt; athird belt to be secured about both feet of the patient substantially atankle level, a harness secured to the third belt having tensioning cordsattached thereto, and pulling means on the other transverse bar ontowhich the cords are gathered to apply tension to the legs of thepatient, and means to anchor the last named cords to maintain legtension.
 2. Traction apparatus according to claim 1 in which the barsare transversely adjustable and have means at the opposite ends thereoffor clamping the bars to the longitudinal members of a stretcher. 3.Traction apparatus according to claim 1 in which each bar has a centralpulley for receiving the tensioning cords.
 4. Traction apparatusaccording to claim 3 in which the central pulley Turns on a horizontalaxis, each bar supporting a pair of lateral pulleys turning on verticalaxes.